A Promise To You
by HarmonyFan14
Summary: Young Royai modern AU. Roy is a senior in the medical university. Riza is in mortal danger because of the burden that she carries. "My back. Mr. Mustang, you can't let them see it..." she whimpered clinging onto his shirt and coughing, close to losing her consciousness. "I don't understand."
1. Chapter 1

A Promise To You

**Chapter 1**

A Promise to you

Chapter 1

Fortunately, she was alive. Unconscious but alive, sleeping there on his large bed, wearing one of his large t-shirts. Her shirt had been blood stained and ripped so he had to give her something clean and comfortable to wear. He tried to shove away the memories from last night. Surely, when the time came, he would receive an explanation for that too. But what he had seen wasn't something that could be forgotten so easily. Things that made him question if he really did want the flame alchemy and of course, his master's sanity.

The last time he had seen her was at her father's burial. His Master's burial. That day he had promised her that she could count on him. But he could have never imagined that it could come to a life or death situation. He shook his head and massaged his temples. He had two essays to write for the next week and all he could think about was his Master's daughter. And the flame alchemy, again.

It all started last evening, when for the first time since he had given her his phone number she called. Frightened. She didn't give him many details. She only asked him to come quickly because there was something important to discuss. He had been of course nervous thinking that finally he could learn the secrets of flame alchemy. He had abandoned all he was studying, got in the car and rushed to her home.

Odd enough, the front door was opened. He had stepped in hesitantly and called her. No answer. When he entered the kitchen, a tall dark figure noticed him and clearly alarmed, got up from the floor and jumped over the window. Before his flee he was leaning over something. Roy gulped and turned on the light, creeped by the previous event.

He gasped and instinctively stepped back. His Master's daughter was laying on the floor, blood flowing from her shoulder. He tried to regain his composure telling himself that after all he was a senior at the medical university. Damn the theory, he had never been face to face to something like this! He rushed towards her body and verified her pulse. He had to take her to a hospital.

"Miss Riza... Wake up!" he shouted worried. She was laying on her side, breathing weakly. At least she was still alive. He wanted to lift her, but that was when she spoke for the first time.

"Don't...please."

"Sorry?" he asked as he scanned her carefully. The wound seemed to be caused by a gun. He clearly needed to bring her to a hospital or else she would have died out of blood loss. "I'll take you to a doctor, you'll be alright." He tried to calm her as he lifted her body and pressed her against his chest, careful not to touch the bullet wound.

"No... " she replied weakly nearly whining. "They can't see..."

"See what? "He said as he carried her carefully out of the house, to his car. She was so light he could have carried her with one arm.

"My back. Mr. Mustang, you can't let them see it..." she whimpered clinging onto his shirt and coughing.

"I don't understand." He said confused and placed her gently on the back seats of his car. He had a first aid kit of course. He could stop the bleeding till they reached the hospital. Was she only delirious or was there something else he couldn't understand?

He got all he needed from the back of the car and returned to her.

"If you'll allow me... " he said trying to take a closer look at the fresh wound. She was too weak to move or to say anything else. But he needed to keep her conscious.

"What happened, Miss Riza?" he asked her while ripping that side of her shirt to gain more access to the wound and murmured a 'sorry'. He froze at the sight of her bare shoulder. What the...

"They wanted it...so badly...that... " She coughed. "they didn't need me alive... "

It looked like a whole tattoo which contained a difficult research written in symbols was printed on her back. So that's why she was so reluctant to go to the hospital. Damn. He pressed the bandages against her soft skin. The spot wasn't lethal and the blood wasn't flowing so fast...but someone still needed to get the bullet out of her shoulder. He could see it.

"Please... "she whined. "Others can't know."

"But I have to do something... I can't just allow you to bleed to death." He tried to reason with her but she shook her head.

"Just let me die... I don't want to keep living like this... " she murmured whispering and for the first time he saw tears flowing down her face. He brushed away the golden locks from her face as he was pressing the bandages against the wound to stop the bleeding. He was careful though as he didn't want to deepen the bullet.

"Miss Riza, I won't let you die. That's something I promise you. But I won't take you to hospital either." He concluded. "I will see of your wound myself. Can you hold this like that till we reach my apartment?" he asked softly and guided her hand to the bandages on her shoulder.

She nodded and he returned to his driver place. He still wasn't sure what was the idea of that tattoo but he had a vague feeling about what it could be. 'My daughter has the notes to the flame alchemy', his master's words came to his mind. He shook his head as he inserted the key into the car and the engine started roaring. He was going to take that bullet out by himself. It was the last year of university. He could do that. He drove fast through the town and kept asking her simple questions to make sure she was awake.

"Hold on, alright?"

"Mhm... " she murmured back, her eyes slightly opened. Laying on the back seats she could catch a glimpse of him, focused on the road, drops of sweat flowing down his face. The lights from the outside stabbed the darkness of the night in a way that made her feel dizzy.

"I am sorry, Mr. Mustang..."

"This is not your fault. And everything's going to be alright. We are close to my apartment."

He had worked on her wound the whole night. Successfully fortunately. He had managed to take the bullet out and to stop the bleeding. He was quite proud of his work even though he knew he had caused her lots of pain. He had examined her tattoo too while mending her. His suspicions were true. That must have been the theory for flame alchemy. Damn but why in such a way? Even though the two of them had barely spoken during his apprenticeship years, he couldn't help feeling frustrated. She was, of course, a good and innocent girl that shouldn't have been burdened with such a heavy weight.

And that's why writing essays was not an option at the moment. He felt his eyes closing. But he had to wait for her to wake up. To make sure everything was alright.

That desperate look from last night. The way she asked him to let her die. It troubled him. He wanted to check if she was breathing regularly and leaned on her. She seemed to be OK. An unknown feeling of protection was challenging him. She flinched and gripped the sheets with her hands till her knuckles turned white. He realized that might still be in shock and that he needed to take her easy. She opened her eyes and studied him a little. His hair was mess and there were purple bags under his eyes.

Before he could react she jumped out of the bed and pressed her back against the wall. She flinched in pain, feeling her bullet wound pulse violently against the cold surface.

"Stay away from me." She threatened scared.

"It's okay." He said as he got up and tried to close the distance between them.

"Stay. Away!" She said louder and hugged herself. "You'll want to use me too now. Just dispose of me already!"

"What? No! I want you to lay down so you don't make your wound bleed. I worked the whole night on that."

"You have seen my back!" She accused him and started to tremble.

"Not intentionally. And I don't want to use you or kill you. If I wanted that I wouldn't have strived so much to keep you alive, don't you think?" he said gently trying to reason with her. Her body seemed to lose its tension. She was breathing heavily as her eyes scanned the room and then fixed on him. A glance that held fear, innocence and exhaustion. She fell on her knees and to his surprise, burst into tears.

He knelt near her afraid to touch her.

"You are safe now." Was all he could think to say.

"Why did you do that? I don't want to keep living like this!" she sighed and more tears started flowing down her face. "I don't want to carry this... "

"Miss Riza. I promised you to be there for you if you needed me. And that's what I'm going to do now. At the moment, all that matters is you to heal. Afterwards, we'll talk about what happens next. Okay?"

She lifted her face to meet his eyes. His dark burning eyes. Hers were empty. She gulped and covered her face in her hands. For a few minutes, she stood like that, thinking deeply about what she should do.

"I can't go back home. He's going to come back."

"You'll stay with me. Here. It's a nice place, right?" he said trying to cheer her up. He made a mental note to ask her later about who he was talking about. She showed no expression. "During the mornings I'll be at courses, so you'll have time for yourself as well."

"I can't ask so much of yourself." She shook her head. "You've already done so much..." she added realizing for the first time that he had really saved her life.

"There's no problem. Anyway, I need to keep an eye on that." He said pointing to her shoulder. She noticed it and touched the wound hesitantly. The sound of the gun flashed through her years and she froze. He noticed her widened eyes that seemed to have gotten lost again and got up to hold her a hand. She caught it hesitantly as she stumbled on her feet. Everything seemed to move around her. She lost her balance but he caught her and guided her to the bed.

It was for the first time when she noticed that she was wearing a loos shirt that hid a subtle note of aftershave. Embarrassment started to creep inside her and she hugged herself instinctively.

"You should sleep. You are tired. And a little in shock. I've got courses in half an hour so... " he let her know. Oh, indeed he had classes in less than 30 minutes and his notebooks, books and notes were spread all over the couch in the living room, leaving aside that he looked like a zombie.

"I didn't thank you, Mr. Roy. And sorry for being like that before. I am... "

"Scared? Traumatized? A man shot you last night. I can't blame you for your reaction. And I know we don't really know each other but, you have to trust me. And anyone would have done what I did." He used the cliché-phrase even though he was indeed proud of himself.

She turned on one side and watched him curiously as he was picking his clothes.

"I don't think so." She replied uncertainly. "It's difficult to trust people. You have seen what my own father did to me." For a second, he forgot what he was looking for in the wardrobe as his eyes seemed to get lost. There was something about the way she said it… "Anyway, saving my life is an act that could make you a trustable person." She continued skeptically.

He turned to her and smiled quickly before finally picking his clothes. "Oh, and one more thing." He added before leaving the room. "Call me Roy from now on, okay? If we're going to be flatmates, the formalities would be really…awkward."

She nodded. "Then, call me Riza."

Yes, she was in a stranger's apartment. Yes, she barely knew who he was, but there was something that made her feel safe. And after the last months, that was all she needed. He entered the living room and started gathering his things. Who would have thought that so many things could change in such a short time? It was nice not being lonely, In fact, it was nice having someone to care for. He returned to his bedroom to take a few more notes from his desk and noticed that she was sleeping deeply, hugging the pillow. A girl was sleeping in his bed and it was for the first time when it was for an innocent cause.

Starring at her, he realized that he really wanted to change her view about what she had said earlier. Yeah, trusting people was difficult and sorrowful most of the times, but a young girl like her shouldn't look at the world like that. His gaze was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. It was a text from Hughes who was probably waiting for him. _U dead? Or you forgot it's not weekend?_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"And there he is…finally." Maes commented as he met Roy in front of the entrance of the university. He wanted to say more, but the purple bags under his friend's eyes that were the proof of an exhausting night, drew his attention. "You spent the whole night in the pub again?"

Roy rolled his eyes. They had had so much to study during the last few weeks that he could hardly remember how the pub even looked like. "Considering the nerd you are, Roy, I bet that, in fact, you wrote essays the whole night." He added and laughed amused by the serious expression upon his friend's face as they were walking down the long corridors crowded with students.

"Yes, I did." He lied. There was no way he could tell Hughes about the fact that a young woman was sleeping in his flat. He would assume all kind of things which Roy couldn't tolerate because of the mood he was in. There were just so many details to think about-

"Short answers, huh? You're a terrible liar. What were you up to last night?" Hughes questioned him further and punched him in the shoulder.

"I've been studying, Hughes." He replied with a hint of annoyance.

"What exactly?"

"The chapter that deals with bullet wounds." He answered quickly realizing that it wasn't a lie at all. Maes scanned him circumspectly.

"Whatever. You need a break and you are fortunate enough to have me as your friend. How about we watch some movies, order some pizza and drink all you have in your fridge tonight?" He suggested excitedly as they entered a large course room.

"Why has it to be my fridge? We can stay in your flat as well." Roy replied trying to suggest that there was no way they could use his place.

"Well, let's see why. Your flat is three times bigger than mine and most of your neighbors consists of cute girls."

"Are you always thinking about girls? Wait. Don't answer to that." He stopped him. "What are actually the chances of you having a relationship with Gracia?"

"Well, they would be totally zero if we spent the night at my place. I will be at 8 at your door." He added with his usual smile spread across his lips. Roy sighed as he took a seat in his desk and buried his head into the book that was opened in front of him. He had to keep Riza as a secret. She wouldn't have liked either that other people knew where she was.

During his way home he kept rehearsing how to tell Riza that one of his colleagues was visiting that night. He didn't want to make her feel bad or awkward for being there. He opened the door of the apartment and his thoughts vanished as the warm and delicious scent of a cooked meal met him. Food? He was monthly buying things necessary for cooking but he was never using them. Since he had started the university he had kept himself alive by eating semi-prepared foods…but this?

He entered the kitchen and found Riza stirring in a pot.

"Hi." He said taken aback by the food that was laying on the table.

"Oh, hi." She flinched taken aback by his return. "I hope you don't mind that I…"

"No way, but you needn't have done all of this, you were supposed to rest." He said as he closed the distance between them and looked curiously at what she was cooking.

"I owe you a lot for…uh…last night so here's a part of my appreciation, I guess." She added awkwardly.

"Thank you, Riza." He said as he sat down and noticed that she was about to leave the room. "Where are you going?"

"Umm, well, you might-"

"Need someone's company? I do." He ended her phrase and gestured to her to join him. Aside from the occasional nights with his friends, he was feeling quite lonely in that big flat. He wandered if that could be the reason for not eating cooked meals. Probably they would make him feel even more lonely. She complied shyly.

"I wanted to ask you…if it's not too much, to drive me home to take some clothes and money. I don't want to use all your T-shirts." She replied looking at what she was wearing. It had conferred her the feeling of security though.

"No worries, but can we do that tomorrow? This evening a friend of mine is coming here and I really tried to stop him from auto inviting himself but-"

"You don't have to explain that to me. Just because I'm staying here doesn't mean that you have to shape your life around that, but I know what you're getting at. For the moment I don't really want people to know where I am."

"Yeah." He agreed. "That's why I will ask you to stay quiet in my bedroom. We'll stay in this area." He said gesturing to the kitchen and the living room. She nodded. She knew how to be quiet.

"Riza."

His eyes met hers. Just as empty as yesterday. She was going to be safe with him, she shouldn't have doubt that, he simply knew it. "I missed your meals." He said and showed her one of his warm smiles.

"Thank you." She averted his eyes from his. The safety and appreciation were feelings that she still wasn't used to, so she didn't really know how to react to them.

"You can take this in case you got bored of that." He handed her a new shirt and some loose pants. "Maes is going to be here in five, so, I'm sorry to leave you alone."

"Stop apologizing." She replied and added something that he didn't understand. Seeing his arched eyebrow, she cleared her throat and explained. "I said that this room makes me feel safe."

"Oh, nice." He added taken aback by her comment. She was expressing what she was feeling. That was an improvement. He left the room and soon she could hear faintly the loud noises of Roy's friend. Thing that reminded her of Rebecca. She had to call her, but her phone was home, full of missed calls and texts from her probably.

She decided to take a shower. She needed to clear her mind after the last 24 hours. Yesterday by this time she was lying in her own puddle of blood and now here she was. The bedroom had its own bathroom aside from the on from the hallway, so she didn't need to go outside the room. She stepped into the shower and shivered at the feeling of the hot water against her body. Of course, Roy had mentioned before that if she wanted to take a shower, to be careful about her wound because it was still fresh. Even though he was most of the time trying to be funny, talkative and seemed quite childish, he became very serious when it came to anything related to medical stuff.

After a time, she stepped out of the shower and dried herself with the towels that Roy had earlier given her. She examined her back in the mirror across the bed. How ironic it was that the bullet had missed the tattoo. She sighed and without realizing it, she picked up his shirt and buried her face into it. She flinched awkwardly at her own gesture, the subtle scent of aftershave remaining imprinted on her mind.

She dressed up. Of course everything looked loose on her, but she couldn't care less. She closed the distance between herself and the window and took a look outside. She heard the two boys laughing loudly. The city was sparkling brightly into the night. She could tell that she was indeed far from home, but somehow didn't miss it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the creak of the door. She froze staring at the intruder and he did the same, his cheerful expression slowly turning into a confused one. The memory of the murderer who had broken into her house a day before flashed through her mind and she hugged herself instinctively

"W-who are you?" Maes finally decided to speak. Riza shook her head and stepped back until her back was pressed against the cold window. "Hey, Roy, did you know that there's a blonde girl in your bedroom?" He shouted to his friend down the hall.

A second later, Roy was standing in the doorframe with a panicked expression upon his face. "Weren't you going to the bathroom, Maes?" Was all he could murmur and sighed thinking about what he was supposed to say.

"I got lost." He replied. "Won't you introduce the lady to me?"

"Oh, yes." Roy said as an idea flashed through his mind. He walked towards her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, careful not to touch the wound. Riza wondered if he was obsessed with aftershave as she resisted to free herself from the grip against the side of his body. "This is my cousin, Elizabeth."

"Who-" She murmured and froze the second time that evening.

"Oh…your cousin? Why are you keeping her closed here like Rapunzel? Why didn't you tell me she was here?" Maes scolded Roy playfully as he presented himself. "I'm Maes."

She shook his hand reluctantly, her body still being pressed against Roy's one.

"She's staying here for a while. And I didn't want to tell you about her because you want every girl you meet to become your girlfriend. She's my cousin and I couldn't allow you to think of her like that."

Riza resisted the urge to roll her eyes. How could he invent a whole story in less than two minutes?

"Well, that makes sense." Hughes admitted. "Join us for a drink."

"Sorry, I don't drink." She moved Roy's arm away from her shoulders. "You two can return to your stuff." She tried to suggest friendlily.

"Yeah, right." Roy replied as he guided Hughes out of the bedroom. "Good night." he whispered with a glimpse of apology in his dark eyes.

"See you around, Elizabeth!" Hughes shouted from down the corridor after the door was closed. She sighed feeling something heavy crushed upon her. She sat on the bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Elizabeth? Huh, it was better anyway than having someone else knowing who she was and what she was doing there. How nice of Roy to invent such a story only because he knew she would feel safer. Soon, she rested her head on the pillow and fell asleep still hearing the cheerful noises from the other room.

When she opened her eyes sleepily, she noticed that the whole room was flooded with light from outside. She was surprised that she had slept for so long as she searched with her eyes the clock on the wall. 10.30. After all, she shouldn't have been so taken aback. She had had so many nightmares last night that she had managed to fall asleep soundly only at 5 o'clock. She went towards the bathroom to wash her face and teeth and then headed towards the kitchen.

He was for sure at courses at that time. She noticed one of his medical books on the kitchen counter and before she could start making coffee, she picked it up and looked through it. She arched an eyebrow at something that caught her attention. On the corners of the pages there were all kinds of alchemical symbols and through some pages, there were even notes that didn't have the medicine as topic.

"' morning."

The book fell out of her hands as she heard Roy's voice coming from the doorframe. She looked at him with widened eyes just like a child who had been caught eating cookies from the jar.

"Sorry…" She apologized quickly as she picked up the book and put it where she found it and stepped back until her back hit the counter.

"No, I'm sorry for scaring you." She was so tense, damn. "You can look through my books if you want, it's not like they are personal or something."

She nodded shortly. What the hell was he doing home? And how stupid could she have been not to see him sleeping on the couch in the living room when she walked through to reach the kitchen?

"You don't have classes?" She asked not wishing to sound at all as if she was scolding him for being in his own flat. He frowned and ruffled his already messy hair.

"It's Saturday. Or at least, I hope it is." He answered shortly. She pressed a palm against her forehead. She wasn't even able to tell what day it was, great. A total mess. She wanted to scold herself. How could she, the organized, mature and responsible Riza Hawkeye not know what day it was? "Sorry, I swear I'm not always like that." She replied as she was preparing the coffee. She didn't even know why she was apologizing to him.

"That's fine. It's nice to see human sides of you sometimes." He added before he could stop himself. He just wanted to turn back the time and take back all he had said. During his apprenticeship, he had never seen any kind of emotion upon her face or any kind of character. She was a quiet girl that was simply obeying all that her father was saying. She used to show no emotion at all or to seem sad, but something beyond the usual sadness. She totally wasn't as cheerful and noisy as the girls of her age. And now, like an idiot he was, he had pointed that out to her. "I didn't mean to offend you, sorry, it was stupid of me to-"

"That's ok." She sighed. "It's strange for me too to remember that I'm human. I can't blame you." She added as she shrugged and watched the coffee heating up on the stove. He didn't want to open such a sensitive topic, mainly because she still wasn't over the incident from two days ago.

"Also, I'm sorry about Maes. I know you didn't want to be discovered."

"I wasn't." She replied as she poured the coffee in two mugs. "Your cousin Elizabeth was."

He huffed amused as she handed him his mug. Their finger touched and she averted his eyes from him. He spoke again trying to make the awkward silence vanish away. "I'll drive you home so you can get your things, alright?"

She nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everybody!**

Chapter 3

"I can come with you if you want to." He suggested as she was ready to get out of the car. She had been silent and tense during the whole way to her house. Of course, the location must have brought her back memories about that evening. A murderer had tried to kill her after all to get to her father's research. Two days had passed and he still hadn't been brave enough to ask her about that.

"You don't need too. I will be quick." She replied and got out of the car. He still wasn't sure about her and got out too after she had entered the house. He would wait for her at the door. Something inside him was making him feel nervous about her being there.

She tried her hardest not to think about what had happened as she went straight to the kitchen to pick up her phone, where it had fallen from her hands when she had heard the shot of the gun. She shivered as she walked in. A puddle of her own blood was laying there on the floor. She gulped and picked the phone up, her hands shaking a little. 27 missed calls and 33 messages. From Rebecca. She waited no more and called her friend.

"OhMyGod I thought you were dead or someone killed you what the hell, Riza?! I was ready to call the police if you weren't going to call me the next hours!" Her friend shouted and Riza had to keep the phone a little far from her ear.

"My phone broke. It fell into water so that's why I couldn't use it." She tried to lie.

"I don't buy this kind of crap." Rebecca replied annoyed. And hardly was she ever getting annoyed. "Firstly, you are everything but clumsy. Secondly, when I called you, the phone was ringing from my side. If it had been broken it would have said that your phone was off."

Riza sighed as she walked towards her room. She wasn't as good as Roy when it came to inventing stories. "Fine. A guy attacked me."

"What? When? Where?"

"Two days ago at home. He was looking for my father's research." She added as she took a bag and started taking clothes out of her closet.

"Are you kidding me? How…and are you alright?" Her voice was trembling.

"Yes, I'm fine. Look, do you remember my father's apprentice?"

"W-What? He attacked you? The bastard, I swea-"

"No, no!" She stopped her. "He saved me. I've been staying at his place since then. I'm sorry you worried so much, but sincerely everything's alright." She lied keeping to herself the bullet wound part and of course the tattoo part. These were things that could endanger Rebecca's safety and her own.

"OH, G, You've been staying with the hottie alchemy freak for two days?" She squealed and continued fangirling. Yeah, Rebecca had always had a thing for that.

"Yes." She answered shortly as she added a few more clothes.

"The who attacked you?"

"Uh…it was Solf. But this is all my fault. I shouldn't have trusted him. And for a while, I don't want us to contact each other, okay? I'm trying to hide for the time being."

"What? But… he had promised to take care of you…" Her voice trailed off disappointed. "I wanted us to meet, you have so many things to tell me about… I missed you, Riza."

"I'm sorry, Becky." She replied. One person on that world cared about her and she was pushing her off too. She felt her eyes fill with tears as a wave of sudden loneliness and desperation crushed upon her. "It's only for a while. I promise to tell you everything when everything will be alright."

"With lots of details?"

"Yes, with lots of details." She promised and smiled weakly for the first time in two days…or longer.

"Take care of you, please. And call me if you need help." Rebecca added on a serious tone.

"You too. Bye." She said as she ended the call. She started to sob, her whole body shaking. First, she had to bear a whole tattoo on her back, then she had to be shot for it, then she had to share an apartment with a stranger and now she was supposed to keep her best friend far from her. How much could she take? She knew she had to pull herself together so she wiped away her tears and after she added all the money she had in the bag she went towards the door.

She jumped back at the sight of Roy who was waiting for her at the entrance just like a bodyguard. He glanced at her concerned seeing her face. She had clearly cried. And she seemed tenser than before. She walked towards the car with her head bowed down trying to hide her expression from Roy even though her mood was obvious.

She sat quietly on the passenger's seat and looked through the window.

"Is everything alright?" he decided to ask because he would have felt like an imbecile if he ignored her more.

"Yes." She replied as she hugged her knees on the seat.

"You are allowed to say 'no' too." He said turning his head towards her. She seemed so fragile and innocent, lost in her thoughts. "Look, I can tell that you are far more mature and responsible than I am, but that doesn't mean that you have to keep everything inside. I know that maybe you've been used this way, but I don't think it's healthy." He added as his glance moved towards the road. "As I said, I might be a little immature, but I think I'm a good listener, so if you ever need somebody to rely on, I've got your back." He said before being able to stop _Idiot. Why on earth did you use a back metaphor towards a girl that barely died because of her back? _ He scolded himself. She lifted her head from her knees and before Roy could apologize, she laughed shortly.

The pureness of the sound barely made Roy not to stop at the red traffic lights. She had freaking giggled at the worst joke he could ever make. As a response, he smiled victoriously.

"Thank you, Roy. It's good to know that I can count on you." She replied and looked at him. For a second he turned his head and their eyes met. She averted hers immediately. She had never enjoyed looking straight into someone's eyes. It was as if that person could see right through her.

"I have just told my best friend that we have to keep the distance for a while. She's like…the opposite of me, but we've been friends for so long that it's difficult to keep her out of the loop."

"You did the right thing, trying to keep her safe." He agreed as he parked the car. "Would you mind if you told me more about what happened that night?" He asked reluctantly afraid not to push everything too far.

"I will."

His hands were trembling slightly when she took off the shirt to reveal him her back. She was sitting on the side of his huge bed and he was sitting right behind her. He needed to change her bandages with fresh and clean ones. It was one thing to touch a young girl's back while she is unconscious and totally another one to do that while she was awake.

He had touched lots of girls before, not for medical purposes, but Riza made him feel shy and unsure. He was afraid not to scare her more or not to hurt her somehow. She seemed so pure that he found it extremely hard to touch her body. A man had shot her so maybe she was anxious too about him being so close to her. But she said nothing about that.

He had everything he needed and was only trying to overcome his insecurity as his eyes were involuntarily scanning the tattoo on her back. He felt a sudden need to tell her how sorry he was about it, but decided not to.

"Everything's okay?" She asked feeling his gaze upon her. She knew it was impossible not to, but she would rather had him not looking at her back while doing his job.

"Yeah, sorry. If something hurts, tell me." He added softly and she simply nodded. They both knew she would say nothing if she was in pain. She was used to it after all. His fingers stopped trembling as he touched her warm back. She flinched a little at the coldness but then relaxed.

"Oh, this looks good." He said after he took away the old blood stained bandages. "It's healing." He said with some sort of excitement in his voice. She didn't comment as he brushed away her shoulder-length hair from her shoulders and added the new bandages, trying to touch her as little as possible. The truth was that she was pretty indeed since her hair had grown so much. She was a completely other person since her father' burial.

"You're hesitating. I don't bite." She eventually said and he froze.

"It's not that…I'm just feeling like a complete jerk for touching you…you are a woman of course, so I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable for invading your privacy." He let it all out quickly. He was feeling bad for invading her privacy? She didn't know how to react. Was she supposed to thank him for thinking about that or simply say nothing? She had given up valuing her intimacy since the red tattoo had appeared on her back. Thinking about that she realized something.

"Just do whatever you have to do, Roy. You're the only person so far who is not using my back for their own gain. You are trying to heal me. You don't think of me as an object." She replied swallowing her own tears. It was good that he couldn't see her face.

He averted his gaze from her, taken aback by her declaration. She thought of herself as an object. She was so broken. He wished that aside from the bullet wound he would be able to heal more. Suddenly, he placed his palm gently upon her wound and she flinched again at the different temperature, but for some reason that touch conferred her more than just an emphatic gesture.

"The reason I wanted to become a doctor is to help the hurt people around me. You are part of them, Riza. Your body…your whole being is burning because of what you've been through. But I will heal you, don't worry. That's a promise to you."

She bit her lips but failed to hold back her tears anymore. He worked more precisely as if he had a new goal.

"A week ago, this strange man called me. He said he knew that the secrets of flame alchemy were imprinted on my back. I immediately ended the call. I've been extremely paranoiac during the last months and I was nearly sure that maybe, after all, I had no reason to be. Till that night. He called me again two days ago. He said he was coming for me and that it was my choice if I would cooperate or not. After that I called you. I had no idea what to do, I couldn't call the police because I couldn't have told them about my back. Before you could arrive, he came in." She gulped and hugged her knees to her chest.

"You can stop if it's hard for you." He said admiring the well bandaged wound and gave her the shirt. Even though she now had her own clothes she didn't refuse it and put it on so she could finally face him.

"He wanted to kidnap me. I tried to defend myself but I couldn't. He drew out a gun and threatened to shoot me if I didn't follow him. I couldn't…"

"Sorry to interrupt, but how could you resist him when he wanted to shoot you? I mean, most people would have followed him."

"I knew how important this tattoo was for my father and he made me promise to protect it. I couldn't have just obeyed anyone who was threatening me."

He felt anger taking over him. She was ready to give her life for that alchemy.

"Secondly, I wasn't so afraid of being shot. The idea of dying didn't seem so…terrifying? The paranoia was slowly killing me anyway."

"But now you don't regret that I saved you, right?" He asked as his deep and dark orbs were piercing her teary eyes.

"No, not really. For the first time in a few months I knew that no one would come here for me. But, after all, this is your home and at some point I'll have to leave. I can't hide in forever."

"Actually, you can't leave until you've healed. And I'm not talking about your shoulder. I'm being serious, Riza. Maybe in one week, your shoulder will be alright, but I can't just have you return to that place where that psychopath can come in any moment. Just stay a little longer with me till we figure everything out."

"I don't know…I owe you so much already…"

"No, you don't. This is not for your back and not for the fact that I've been your father's apprentice. I'm kind of confused towards my master's sanity right now. I'm doing all of this because you deserve a chance too to see that this world is not so hopeless after all. And it might take time, but I think it's worth it. "

"You are such an idealist." She said looking in his lit up eyes. "Yeah, fine, I guess I could stay a little longer with you if you are really sure."

"Great." He said and raised up his palm. "High five?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled weakly as her palm pressed upon his. She wished she couldn't doubt Roy's loyalty. She wished she could really trust him and not consider the fact that he might use her as well for her back. Though, his eyes had a different gleam from Solf's ones.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi, guys! Just** **wanted to thank Dana for the review, it surprised me and totally made my day! Also, I don't have medical knowledge at all so forgive things that are not plausible with the reality! Enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 4

It was barely midnight. The perfect moment for a student to start writing his essays, right? Or at least, that was Roy's case. The last days had been so overwhelming, even with Hughes' visit, that he had to pull himself together and work for university. And above that, he had to think about the psycho murderer part.

He opened one of the many curse-books and turned over the pages till he reached the topic he was looking for. He started chewing on the pen as it was his habit and scanned the whole text quickly. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an unexpected noise. A kind of whimper that came from the bedroom's direction. He ignored it and went on, but the words just didn't seem to make any sense now. The whimper again. Was she in pain? What if his bandages weren't as professionally placed as he had considered they were?

He put the pencil down and walked down the hallway hesitantly as he heard the sound more clearly. It seemed as if she was suffering. Dammit, it was his fault. He opened the door slowly and the dim light that creeped in fell on the bed. Riza was laying hugging a pillow tightly to her chest, curled up in a ball. He stared at her worried. She was having a nightmare.

He felt half relieved that he wasn't responsible for her pain, but decided to wake her up as she sobbed and held the pillow tighter. Again, she seemed so innocent and fragile that he was afraid not to scare her more. Probably she shouldn't have told him all that had happened right before going to sleep.

"Riza." He whispered as he sat on the side of the bed. "Wake up."

She made no move and whimpered again. As delicately as he could, he touched her forearm. "Riza." He said a little louder this time. Before he could realize what was happening, she opened her eyes widely and moved to the other side of the bed, panting heavily.

"Hey, it's me." He tried to calm her looking into her scared eyes. "You were having a nightmare and I…"

She nodded and still hesitantly crawled back to her place near him. "I thought you were…" _Kimblee._ She wanted to say but knew that she had to wait more before explaining every little detail.

"I'm not. No one's gonna hurt you here, Riza." He added as he shyly touched her hand. She nodded shortly and without realizing why, she moved closer to him. There was something about his solid and warm body that made her feel safe. His voice made her feel secure as well.

"Sorry. I didn't want to interrupt you…this is just, so childish." She scolded herself.

"It's not. You know, I'm sometimes having nightmares too, about my parents. They died in the war when I was just a kid." He explained calmly.

"I'm sorry, Roy." Was all she could say.

"Don't worry. You're feeling better?"

"Um, yes." She answered but looked a if she wasn't going to fall asleep soon.

"If you're not very sleepy, you can join me in the living room. I'm studying. It will be boring but sometimes it feels better not to be lonely in moments like this."

She didn't answer as he got up from her bed and headed towards the door. Why would she want to stare at him while studying? Hughes was right, he was such a nerd.

"Roy." She called him while wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. "Would it be okay if I came?" She scolded herself mentally again for sounding so childish, but she didn't like the idea of trying to fall asleep in the darkness of the room.

"Of course." He reassured her and waited in the doorframe as she got up and followed him, with the blanket on her shoulders.

They both sat on the couch, Riza trying to keep a reasonable distance from him. He was reading a heavy book about medical stuff, holding the pen with his teeth. He had a small frown upon his forehead and his orbs were moving quickly from the left to the right of the pages. She realized she hardly knew anything about him.

She only knew that he was good at alchemy and that he was studying at the medical university. And that his parents had died in the war. Also, that he was trying to be funny most of the times and that he had some solid principles about how this world worked. If it had been so easily, she would have trusted him, but there was a chance that he could be just like Kimblee.

"You know, I was thinking about the guy who attacked you. He must have known about your back and I'm wondering why." He said not moving his glance from the book.

"I don't know." She lied shortly.

"Well, obviously neither you nor your father told him…so…who?" He added as he flipped another page. She didn't answer. Crap. She couldn't tell him. Not yet.

"What are you studying?" She asked trying to change the topic.

"Neurology this term. It's not really my thing." He replied pressing a palm against his forehead and closing his eyes. He looked tired. It was nearly one o'clock in the night however he was studying at this hour because of the trouble she had brought in. Even though, again, he was only a stranger, she felt bad about that. "I mean, come and look at this." He said and she hesitantly closed the space between them to take a look at the book.

He began telling her all kinds of complicated things that were difficult to understand at that hour but she listened to him anyway. It was something about his voice that made her clear her mind. Slowly, while he was talking about the essays he had to write, she felt he eyelids heavier than ever and couldn't help but fell asleep with her head pressed against his shoulder, wrapped in her blanket.

"…and none of my colleagues thinks that 9 pages are a reasonable length, but I told you, that professor hates us-" He stopped as he noticed the pressure against his shoulder. Well, at least his rambling about his essay had been useful. He continued studying being careful not to wake her up by making brusque moves. Unfortunately for his assignments, sleep was contagious so after a while, he fell asleep too.

Riza opened her eyes. It was morning and…she was in the living room?! She was laying on the couch. Odd. She blinked a few more times till she was fully awake and aware of what was happening. Roy's book was on the floor above her fallen blanket. Something warm was pressed against her back while a freaking arm was hanging loosely around her belly. She gulped as her heart started to beat so loudly that she was afraid she might wake him up.

She had been sleeping with Roy on the couch. As she repeated the thought a thousand times, she felt her face heating up and her whole body tensing. Even though she was not facing him, she could tell that he was sleeping peacefully. She could feel his hot breath against her neck. She was to blame for this. If she hadn't freaking had that stupid nightmare she wouldn't have been sleeping next to her father's apprentice. She wasn't used to this kind of intimacy and had no idea how to free herself from his grip without waking him up.

Roy woke up on his own but didn't open his eyes as he felt the warmth of the body laying next to him. He wondered who was there? Jane, Teressa or Kandy? He nuzzled the top of the head of the girl next to him. He didn't recognize the scent but enjoyed it. It smelled like vanilla.

"Good morning, babe." He murmured still keeping his eyes closed. His fingers started tracing patterns on the skin of his supposed girlfriend's belly. His hand started moving up under her pajama shirt and she couldn't take more.

"Roy…" She said as she put her hand against his and moved it away. "You should wake up."

Roy opened his eyes slowly at the hearing of the serious voice. At the sight of the blonde hair, he immediately took his hand away and got up jumping above her away from the couch. What. Had. He. Done. She got up too, wrapping the blanket around herself trying to mentally erase what had just happened.

"I am such an idiot, please forgive me. No, don't forgive me, I can't ask you that, I'm a total jerk-"

"It's my fault that I fell asleep here, you were only-"

"Being a pervert and now you must be traumatized…"

"Only a little…" She answered back, both of them blushing and sweating. "You know what, let's never talk about this again, okay?" She suggested not being able to look him in the eye.

"Yeah, it totally didn't happen." He agreed, ruffling his hair.

"Totally." She nodded wishing for the ground to open and swallow her.

"I'm going to take a shower." He said quickly trying to break the silence.

"Good idea…" She added realizing she was fixing with her eyes a certain part of Roy's body, a realization that made her turn her gaze away and turn even crimson than she already was. He didn't wait more and rushed to the bathroom understanding her subtility.

Riza felt as if the awkwardness would never vanish and for a second cursed herself for accepting to live with him. Rational as she was, she knew there would be more moments like that in the future, moments that they would have to get used to. She decided that some coffee would be very welcome to help them forget the earlier…event. As she was boiling the water into a pot, she heard the front door burst open and some stomping steps that were coming towards the kitchen. She froze. It was Solf for sure. And Roy was in the shower. She was going to- what.

A tall blond woman with cold eyes was standing in the door frame and seemed just as surprised as Riza.

"Sorry?" Riza asked crossing her arms in a defending position.

"Where is him?!" She asked angrily, but seeing the kitchen empty and the half-terrified young girl, she sighed. "Olivier Mira Armstrong." She introduced herself eventually and held her hand to Riza.

"Umm…Elizabeth." She replied not used to her new name.

"Huh? I swear he changes them daily…" Olivier murmured to herself thinking about what else would a beautiful young girl dressed in pajamas do in Roy's flat. Riza bit her lips and added awkwardly:

"I'm his cousin." She hesitantly explained and returned to the coffee who was nearly ready. Olivier sat down uninvited and lit up a cigarette. Riza frowned as she had her back turned to Olivier. Who was this scary woman?

"Say, Elizabeth, is your cousin home?"

"Yes, he's taking a shower." Olivier seemed so determined that Riza feared she might go straight to the bathroom and drag Roy out. As she finished the phrase, Roy entered the kitchen, his hair still wet and his expression darkened at the sight of the blonde woman.

"Liiiiv…what a beautiful surprise…what brings you here?"

"Beautiful my ass, Mustang! When will you learn not to stick your nose into other people' business?" She barked as she jumped from her seat and rushed towards Roy. Riza wasn't sure if she should say something and poured some coffee in three coups.

"What are you talking about…and how did you enter?" He asked and looked confused at Riza who shook her head as if saying that she hadn't opened the door.

"I went to the other bastard and threatened him till he gave me the key of your flat. But what matters now is why on earth you spoke on my behalf to Miles?"

"Sorry?" Roy asked and lifted an eyebrow.

Riza rolled her eyes subtly and wanted to leave the room feeling uncomfortable, but Olivier caught her wrists. "Stay. Do you know what your wonderful cousin has done?" Riza shook her head hesitantly and looked apologetically at Roy.

"Miles asked if I was interested in him. And he thought that it would be a great idea to say that I really am!"

"I see…" Riza replied being unable to free her hand. "So you didn't want Miles to know that you like him." She concluded.

"But I'm not interested in him…" Olivier said as she tried not to blush. "And even so, it wasn't his job to tell him that!" She accused Roy who was striving not to burst into laughter.

"She is right, Roy." She half scolded him hoping that Olivier would let her go if she showed that she was interested in what was happening.

"He was the one who asked me. If I had told him that you're not, you would have ripped my head off because I told him otherwise!"

Olivier frowned and crossed her arms, finally freeing Riza who invited her to stay for coffee in spite of Roy's subtle gestures not to. Olivier was one of Roy's colleagues and in fact, she found out that they were good friends. They talked about other people that she supposed that were other friends of theirs, such as Havoc, Breda, Izumi and of course, Maes, that she had been introduced to. She knew that if she was going to live with Roy she had to meet all his friends eventually.

"Are you really related?" Olivier asked as she sipped suspiciously from her coffee and looked at their opposed appearances.

"Well, yes." Roy answered realizing that Riza didn't share his Xingese look at all.

"So what's your story? How did you end up living with this bastard?" Olivier asked abruptly with no hesitation.

"I finished school and I took a gap year to think about what I should do next." She replied, in fact, not lying at all. With all the paranoia and the tattoo stuff, her future had been the last thing she could think about. "And I thought that living with my cousin would inspire me about my future career."

Olivier nodded pleased with the answer. They talked a little more and then Olivier left, Riza remaining with the impression that the young woman was fierce indeed. However, she could not ignore the blush in her cheeks when it came to Miles. In fact, something told Riza that Olivier was happy that Roy had told Miles that she was interested in him, but, of course, she couldn't admit that to him.

As the evening came, Roy had finally managed to solve half of his tasks for the next day so he welcomed Hughes' invitation to hang out that night. He was ready to leave when Riza's voice drew his attention.

"I forgot to thank you. For last night." She said awkwardly as she crossed her arms and eyed the floor. Even though they had promised not to talk about that again, she couldn't just let it slip by. It was still strange to her to feel that someone cared about her.

"Don't worry. Whenever you feel down just tell me."

She nodded slowly.

"Also" he added as he put on his coat. "If you're still awake when I'll be back, I'll take a look at your wound. Ok?" He touched her shoulder protectively and left. She pressed her hand unconsciously against her wound, but she didn't feel the same sensation. She decided to go and read a book instead of overthinking about feelings.

She had grown to enjoy Roy's bookshelves. They held lots of books which Roy had said that had read all of them. And the way he was talking about his studies showed that indeed he possessed great knowledge. She was trying to pick a book when her phone started to ring. She went towards the kitchen table with an uneasy feeling in her stomach and froze at the sight of the caller.

What was she supposed to do? Honestly, the best solution seemed to throw the phone over the window. She sighed and answered.

"Riza. It surprises me that you're answering." A mocking and cold voice spoke. "It looks like the earth has swallowed you I was even afraid that I have really killed you. I guess you were lucky."

"Leave me alone." She said shortly.

"Oh, you wouldn't have said that a few weeks ago. Look, I have no idea where you are, but if you are stupid enough to think that your mysterious savior won't use you for your back, then good luck, but what I know is that I will find you sooner or later. And I won't be as kind as the first time." He added and ended the call.

Riza shivered and hugged herself. She headed towards the front door to check if it was locked. She nodded and leaned against it till she reached the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. She knew that if Solf really wanted to, he was capable of finding her. And what was worse was that she didn't want Roy implied in this. He had a beautiful life laying ahead. No. She couldn't stay more and it was the best if she left without telling him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! Sorry for the long hiatus! Sometimes life happens:) **

Chapter 5

Riza packed all her belongings with slight hesitation. It was strange, but even if she had been living with Roy only for a few days, she had got used not to being lonely. Half of herself was yelling to run away as fast as she could, while the other half was hoping for Roy to return home and stop her. She felt like a traitor for leaving after promising him to stay with him. But if she stayed, Kimblee would find them both and there was as well the possibility of Roy using her for her back. She was more inclined to believe the first hypothesis however, in both cases, the best choice was running away.

She got her bag on her shoulder and before reaching the front door she decided to write a note. Roy had been extremely patient and kind towards her. She couldn't leave without giving him some explanations. She took a piece of paper and tried to think of the best words, but it felt like she could think of nothing that could excuse her leaving. She could only picture his stunned expression when he wouldn't find her…and then the hurt one when he would read the note. She kept telling herself that it was the best for them both as she started writing with her trembling hand. Then, she left and hid the key under the mat after locking the door.

With a sigh and the scolding thought that she had actually believed that she belonged somewhere, she left the building. It was also raining heavily. Great. She had nowhere to go. Home wasn't an option because Solf could always come back and neither to Rebecca's. All she could do was walking down the streets as far from Roy's place as she could.

Roy tried not to drink so much with his friends. He wanted to stay sober as he had a young lady waiting for him and didn't want to make her think lower of him. Maybe she already thought of him as a pervert, he couldn't afford her to think of him as an alcoholic as well. And above that, he needed to be conscious when changing the bandages on her wound. As he reached the door of his flat, he got out of the pocket his own key and inserted it into the keyhole. It opened with a click and he entered. It was quiet. Riza was probably in the bedroom.

He walked through the empty kitchen and living-room and knocked at her door. Nothing. Was she asleep already? It wasn't so late. He decided to creep the door only a little to make sure everything was alright. The bed looked as if no one had ever slept in it. His heartbeat started to quicken.

"Riza?" He called her as he returned to the kitchen. "Riza!"

He received no answer, but his attention was drawn by a note on the table. He gulped feeling like he knew what that was. He prayed he was wrong when he took it and scanned it with his eyes.

I know this is a little too brusque, but I had to go. This was too dangerous for you. You can't risk your future nor your life for me. Thank you for everything, I will be forever grateful. I hope you can understand my reasoning even though I wasn't really specific. It was nice to feel safe at least for a few days. Don't worry about me, you know I am strong.

The last sentence echoed through his mind as if she was in front of him.

"Fuck, Riza." He said as he threw the note away and hit the surface of the table with his clenched fist. He felt a bitter frustration invading him and a sense of fear. Where could she be? It was dark and raining and she was all alone. He had to find her. There was no way he could simply let her go.

He buried his face into his hands trying to focus on a reasonable plan when a well-known buzz of phone made him fix with his gaze a certain phone on the couch. He couldn't believe his eyes, it was Riza's phone! He stumbled to the sofa and picked it up. Maybe she hadn't even realized she had forgotten it. What if she was at her friend, Rebecca? She had nowhere else to go after all, so maybe she was there for the night. He scanned her agenda and pressed his thumb against Rebecca's name.

"Riza, I'm so glad you're calling!"

Rebecca's excited voice made Roy's hope vanish. So she wasn't with her. But maybe she could help.

"It's not Riza. It's Roy, I don't know if she told you about-"

"Oh, Roy. Yes, of course, I know about you two. So, why are you using Riza's phone?" She asked uncertain.

"She ran away." He said after a short pause.

"She did what?"

"Something must have determined her to leave. She was alright, I left with some friends and when I returned a few hours later she was gone. She left a note but didn't explain anything." He was sure Rebecca didn't know about her back.

"Where are you living? I'm coming right away."

Soon, Roy met Rebecca in front of the block of flats. He didn't expect that Riza's best friend could be such a noisy person. They decided to split. Rebecca had to go right, while he had to go left. It was a crappy plan but it was all they could do. As he was walking down the streets, the cold and heavy rain falling down, he didn't even bother to cover his head with the hood of the jacket he was wearing. All he could think about was finding her and why she had left. Probably the fear explained everything.

Every lonely figure that passed by him made him turn his gaze to them, hoping that it might be her. Slowly, the exhaustion and the worry were taking over him. He felt like not only had he disappointed himself for not being able to make her feel safe but her as well. Maybe she had been afraid of him as well? He had thought a few times that she could consider him interested in her back, but he couldn't care less about it.

The buzz of his phone made him flinch. He hoped it was Rebecca who would tell him that she had found Riza, but it was Maes. He wanted to ignore the call but decided to answer.

"Maes."

"Yo, Roy. What's happening?"

"That's something I'd like to know too." He replied looking upwards at the dark sky in the light of a streetlamp, as raindrops were falling upon his face.

"You tell me. What's your cousin doing at this late hour outside?"

"Maes, where is she?!" He chocked on his words and was ready to start running towards the direction his friend might indicate.

"I saw her in the central park, but-"

"I'll tell you later, thanks, Maes, bye." Was all he said and started running like crazy towards the park. If he rushed fast enough, he could reach the park before she could go farther. He tried to shut down every scenario that was darkening his thoughts. That park was a dangerous place during the night.

Riza sat on a bench in the park. She was damp wet and freezing but did not allow herself to think of Roy's cozy flat. Some laughter and voices made her turn her gaze down the alley. Two dark figures were coming straight to her. She got up and tried going away from the area, but before she could go down other path, a third figure jumped in front of her from behind a tree. With a terrified gaze she stepped back and bumped into the first two. Her mouth was suddenly covered and her arms held to her back as two of the guys grabbed her bag.

"It's not nice weather for walking for such a nice young lady, don't you think?" The third one asked with a mocking smile upon his lips. "What should we do with her?" He asked the other two.

"Well, the rain is going away. We can still have some fun, what do you say?" One of them suggested and kicked her down, in a puddle of water then pressed a leg against her body to make sure she won't move.

"Let me go…" She begged, realizing how pathetic she looked. One of them pulled her hair to make her stand up and she had to stumble to her feet. After so many days, she was wishing again they would just kill her instead of doing something else.

"She's pretty, guys…" the one who pulled her hair said as he grabbed her chin, closing the distance between them, while the others were laughing. Riza bit her lips as her hands were again being held. Through the heavy raindrops, she could feel her own tears falling down from the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, the man in front of her fell down as someone punched him down. The other two stepped back puzzled, freeing her.

Anger rushed through Roy's body as he punched one of them, barely knocking him off his feet. The one on the ground stumbled on his feet and ran away while the other two followed his example. Roy was breathing heavily, as the heat and adrenaline were running through his veins. He turned to Riza who was shaking right behind him. He came to his senses and took off his jacket to wrap it around her and cove her hair with the hood.

For a moment they stared in each other's eyes. Hers were widen, filled with tears and fear while his were burning with concern. Before she knew what she was doing, she pressed herself against his chest and started sobbing. A little surprised by the unexpected gesture, he wrapped his arms around her body and held her tightly.

"It's alright, Riza. I'm here."

He wanted to hold her tighter but he was afraid he might hurt her wounded shoulder more. He couldn't explain himself the relief and peace he was feeling while hugging the young girl who had been only a stranger before a few days ago. He shivered at the thought of punching two people. He had been driven by a strange determination. He couldn't resist when he had seen the three men harassing her.

She clang to his body as if it was her lifeboat. Even if it was freezing, his chest was warm. She didn't even care that she was wetting it with her tears. She didn't even scold herself for being childish. She was so scared that she didn't even care about anything else.

"Riza, are you hurt?"

She was too shocked to feel any kind of pain. She was beginning to realize that she was indeed safe. She heard him gasp as his fingers brushed away some strands of hair on her temple and she hissed in pain silently. He frowned at the sight of her blood on his fingers. She realized she had hurt her head when they had kicked her on the pavement.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious." He added not wishing to scare her more. In fact it really was just a scratch that was bleeding. He put his hands on her shoulders and grabbed them lightly. "Are you ready to go home?"

"I am so sorry." She bowed her head as new tears started falling down her cheeks.

"Don't think about that now, okay? I am here." He replied and she nodded. He called a taxi to take them home as he realized Riza wouldn't be able to walk so much in the state she was. He also texted Rebecca that he had found her. She was waiting for them in front of the block, with a worried expression upon her face. Rarely could you see that concerned glance in Rebecca's eyes.

Riza became conscious of her best friend's presence only when she was pulled into a tight hug. Roy gestured subtly to Rebecca not to ask anything about what had happened and Riza promised to call her in the morning.

After having a hot shower and changing in some of Roy's clothes(her bag had been stolen, so again, she had to rely on Roy's clothes at least till morning when Rebecca would bring her some.), she returned to the living room. Two cups filled with hot tea were standing on the table and she took a seat in front of him. He wasn't looking at her, but she could tell that he was thinking about her.

"Thank you." She murmured as she sipped some of the tea.

"Why? Why did you do that? I barely manage to keep you alive after being shot and then you run away in the middle of the night who knows where…what if I hadn't made it in time?"

"Sorry. It was the best thing I could think of…"

"I hardly think that." He replied, his stern dark eyes scanning her guilty expression. "What aren't you telling me, Riza?" He added, his voice softer.

"Nothing." She lied, eyeing her own reflexion in the hot tea.

"You need to trust me…I've saved your life two times now, what do I need to do to gain your trust?"

"I've done this before. And it ended up badly."

"Done what?"

"Trusted someone."

Roy scanned her with his onyx eyes. Those innocent milk chocolate eyes that were now focused on the cup of tea were hiding more than he knew. And hell, in that moment he would have given everything to hear all about her background and solve all her problems right there and then. He needed to be patient with her. She was scared. She kept ending up in dangerous situations that were costing her life. He sighed and spoke softly.

"I know you'll tell me everything when you're ready, but now you should get some rest."

"No. There's no point in hiding this from you anymore since you want me to stay here." She decided, her brow frowned while playing absently with the teaspoon in the porcelain cup. She realized that telling him the whole slowly would also make her feel better and cast away the guilt that she felt towards the fact that she was hiding so many things from the person that saved her life two times already.

"After you left your apprenticeship, my father had a new student."

Something in Roy's eyes told Riza that he was a little hurt by how easily her father found a substitute for him. She went on digging through those parts of her life that she had been trying to forget. "His name was Solf Kimblee. By that time I had the tattoo on my back and my father was kind of desperate that he couldn't pass his knowledge to anyone. You know, he had high hopes for you…"

"I know but sometimes there are some choices to be made. And I've made mine." He said a little too abruptly than he intended and averted his eyes to the other side of the room. "I don't think he believed in me as much as you said."

"He did…because before he died he wanted me to entrust you with my back."

Silence.

Roy opened his mouth to say something but couldn't formulate any words. Then why hadn't Riza mentioned that before? Why had she wanted to hide this from him?

"However, after he passed away I wanted to give you a call and explain this whole mess, but Solf showed up." He already didn't like this guy that seemed to be the antagonist in Riza's story. "He was really nice and seemed to care about me and you know, it was all I needed during that time…someone I could trust. I was so dumb." She added after a little pause. "Instead of telling you about the flame alchemy, I told him because it seemed right to do so."

"You weren't dumb, you were only naïve." He murmured foreseeing the turn the story was going to take.

"Well, after I told him about how powerful this technique is and about how much responsibility it requires, he started talking about how powerful it would make him. He was dreaming of taking down the government and threaten the border countries…" she paused her gaze fixed somewhere far away. "You should have seen the look in his eyes…the hatred that came out of them."

She flinched and moved her gaze back to him when he pressed his palm against her which was laying on the table.

"When I called you…I knew he would come for me. After sharing his plans with me I told him that there was no way I could trust him with the flame alchemy. He was angry. He promised he would use my back whether I agree to or not. I didn't think he would shoot me in my own house…" her words were trembling as her eyes were filled with tears. Roy held her hand firmly.

That's why she had been so scared and hesitant all the time. She was scared of being betrayed. That's why she hadn't told him that the secrets on her back were meant for him. There was a chance he would be a monster as Kimblee and use the power of alchemy to do terrible things. At the damn moment, he didn't even care about that damned alchemy, he only wanted to keep her safe.

"He called right after you went to hang out with your friends. He promised he would find me and I was-, I am scared that he will hurt you too." The rain was falling heavily against the windows of the flat.

"I am sorry to hear about that. About everything. I understand why you're having trouble trusting me. All I can promise is that I am not currently interested in flame alchemy. All I want to focus on is this situation with Kimblee. If I hadn't left my apprenticeship, this wouldn't have happened." As soon as he said those words he realized how much they hurt him. His egoistic dreams were the reason Riza was in that mess. And now, more than ever he wished to fix everything.

"Don't say such things." She replied hugging herself.

"We will think about what is to be done, tomorrow. I think both of us need to sleep now." He said as he stood up and placed the empty cups of tea on the counter. Riza nodded. She wanted to head towards her bedroom, but turned on her hills and hugged Roy tightly.

He was taken aback by the gesture but hugged her too.

"I don't want you to blame yourself for this." She whispered as her chin was resting on his shoulder. "And from now on I will really trust you with everything. I think I've told you this before, but you really are a good person."

"Thank you." He said as he inhaled her hair's fresh scent. "And thank you for telling me everything."


End file.
